Miss. alligator infestation suit before high court

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Supreme Court will consider Tuesday arguments in a dispute between a Wilkinson County couple and ExxonMobil Corporation over an alleged alligator infestation.

Lawyers for Tom Christmas and his wife argue the couple didn’t discover the 84-plus alligators on land next to their homestead until four years after they bought the property in southwest Mississippi.

ExxonMobil counters that the Christmases’ real estate agent told them about the alligators as far back as 2003. ExxonMobil says the couple waited too long to file a lawsuit alleging the gators robbed them of enjoyment of their land.

The Christmases sued Exxon in 2008, seeking damages for permanent depreciation of their land. A judge threw out the lawsuit in 2011.